


promises in the woods

by violetsannie



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:08:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetsannie/pseuds/violetsannie
Summary: they were best friends, who were absolutely in love with each other. would promises made during their last moments together be eventually broken?
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Kudos: 16





	promises in the woods

to some, seonghwa would be seen as lonely. he was always alone. as far as anyone can remember, he's always been alone. however to seonghwa? well, he was never alone. 

he always had hongjoong. as far as his memory goes back, he has always had hongjoong with him. they were the closest of friends- they were inseparable. and now that it was summer? well they were even more inseparable: and it was driving seonghwa insane. the feelings he had for his best friend were slowly starting to overflow, and he knew that by the end of the summer he'd end up exposing himself. 

seonghwa was absolutely in love with his best friend. he loved everything about him. he loved how his eyes sparkled whenever they would go for late night walks, he loved how his nose scrunched up whenever he laughed. he loved how the light hit his strawberry red hair, and all seonghwa ever wanted to do was run his hands through his hair, and spend the night with hongjoong not as best friends, but as a couple. seonghwa wanted to ask him out. it was slowly killing him inside that he constantly hid his true feelings, however he was afraid to mess up their perfect relationship. 

so he stayed quiet. 

hongjoong, however, was completely in love with seonghwa. all that ran through his mind on the days that he spent with seonghwa was two things: 1) that he was completely and utterly infatuated with his best friend. and 2) that he didn't have much time left with him. he wasn't sure exactly how long he'd have left, but he was sure it wasn't long. he was terrified of confessing, but it was all he wanted to do before he left. 

all he wanted to do, was make sure seonghwa knows that he was in love with him. and today? today was the day for that. 

"seonghwa! over here you idiot!" hongjoong called out to his best friend, who was currently parked by the side of a forrest. he flashed seonghwa a shit-eating grin, and then ran up to the car. 

"literally where the fuck are we? I lost service like 6 times driving here, so my gps gave out on me. a warning would've been nice asshole." he shot at hongjoong, his voice coated with suppressed laughter- it was obvious he didn't mean it. 

"just hurry up! I don't want you to miss it! " hongjoong replied as he grabbed some blankets out of seonghwa's car, and began to dash into the woods. seonghwa ran into the woods after him, grabbing snacks out of his cars. he had debated on bringing actual food, but decided against it. it was 2am. if they really wanted food, they could stop at a random fast food place on the way home. 

"how far away is this shit, joong? I feel like my legs are going to fall off" he yelled at hongjoong, panting in between his words. he was never one for sports. 

"we're here!" hongjoong stopped on a cliff, and set down all the blankets, took the snacks from seonghwa, and then plopped down on the ground. 

"hwa, look up." hongjoong whispered, almost inaudibly. so he looked up. and he was met with the stars. it was the clearest he had ever seen them in his entire life. as a kid, seonghwa liked you stay indoors, so this was pretty new to him. 

"it's beautiful. how the hell did you find this place, hongjoong? I never really took you for the type who likes to run through the woods." the area they were in was almost all clear, other than the huge pine trees that surrounded them. you could see the city from the clearing, which seemed so far away, even though it was only maybe an hour out. 

hongjoong took the opportunity to look at seonghwa, and smiled.   
"well... I thought you'd like it. I know you were never really one to go outside, but you always talked about the stars growing up. so when I had time, I went out and found this place, and immediately knew I'd take you here on a night with a clear sky, so you could see all the stars in person." hongjoong couldn't be more glad that it was dark, otherwise seonghwa would have seen his face go the shade of his hair while he spoke. 

"also, I needed to tell you something. look at me, please?" his voice went quiet again, and was laced with fear. seonghwa looked at him, concerned and worried. he thought something was wrong. or worse he somehow found out that he loved him, and this was all an elaborate plan to turn him down and leave forever. 

"seonghwa... we have known eachother for years now. I have no fucking clue how long, but you've always been there for me. you were there for me when I cried, you were there for me when I screamed over that small lizard that somehow got in my hair... hwa you've been there through it all with me, and honestly I can't say how lucky I am to have found you. there is really no easy way to say this, but I need to say it now or I'll actually hate myself forever. park seonghwa, I love you. I'm in love with you."

there was silence. hongjoong thought he fucked up. he immediately started squirming around where he sat, and was ready to apologize and leave. that never happened. seonghwa had came closer, and kissed him. the park seonghwa, was kissing him. when it finally hit him that he wasn't hallucinating, he kissed back. and they kissed like their lives depended on it. 

once they pulled away, seonghwa was still silent. that was okay. hongjoong got told everything he needed to know with the kiss. now came the hard part

"there is also one other thing.... hwa, I'm leaving. I don't know when I'll be back. this... this was my way in saying goodbye. seonghwa, I'm leaving tomorrow." he choked out, tears dangerously close to spilling out. 

"what? what are you talking about? hongjoong you can't just leave, what are we going to do?" seonghwa's voice was shaking, he felt himself slowly breaking.   
"stay with me. stay with me here. I'll... I'll move out. we can get an apartment. we can figure something out, just please, don't leave me now." 

"seonghwa." hongjoong hesitated. telling him the truth could just sound plain insane, but not telling him the truth could break him even more.   
"seonghwa, I haven't been alive for years now. it's going to sound crazy, I know. but you know I'd never lie to you yeah? I have no explanation as to why you could see, talk to, and touch me, but I'm glad you could. being a ghost would've been miserable alone." he chuckled sadly. 

seonghwa stayed quiet, but nodded his head. hongjoong knew it was a lot to take in. he literally just told a human, someone who was alive and living, that he was a ghost. that he was dead. 

seonghwa's silence was met with a hug. the tightest hug hongjoong had ever given him. he wanted to let go. he wanted to push out if the hug, and argue until hongjoong would find a way to stay. but he didn't. he sat their, entangled with hongjoong, and just cried. 

hongjoong interlocked pinkies with seonghwa, and told him "I'll be back someday. I promise you I will."

and he believed him. 

the next, morning, hongjoong was gone. they had fallen asleep on the blankets in the woods. seonghwa ran through the woods looking for him, drove back home and searched town for him. 

he was gone. he truly was gone. all seonghwa could do was lay his head down on his steering wheel and cry. hongjoong was gone, and for once, he felt lonely just like everyone said he was. 

5 years later 

seonghwa had never seen hongjoong after their night in the woods. he tried calling, texting, everything he could, but all he got was a monotone "this number is not in service."

he tried to forget, he honestly did. and it somewhat work. he made friends for the first time since he met hongjoong. and he loved his friends. he truly loved them. but it wasn't the same. they weren't going to fill the giant void hongjoong left, and he knew that. 

his new friends had heard about hongjoong, and immediately wanted to help search for him. seonghwa refused their offer. he didn't want to open that wound even more than it already was- he missed hongjoong enough as it is. 

"seonghwa, let's go! I want coffee!" san yelled at seonghwa as he locked the door to his house. 

"I am you impatient ass, I'd rather my house not get broken into." he spit back, dropping his keys in his pocket and hopping in the car. 

they were on their way to his favorite coffee shop. his friends often questioned why he refused to go to any other place, yet he would never properly answer. he'd just blow it off, saying they had the best coffee or something, when in reality, it was because hongjoong loved their coffee. seonghwa didn't even like coffee, but it the place made him feel happy, so he went anyway. 

they spent maybe an hour in the cafe. it was about 5 o'clock, and san worked at 5:30, so they couldn't stay nearly as long as they usually liked to. 

their coffee was gone, their jackets were on, and they made their way outside. seonghwa never liked leaving that place, it felt like he was leaving hongjoong. which only made him miss him even more. 

"I think I'm going to walk home. I need some air" seonghwa said to san, and began walking away before he could let his friend answer. he was tired. not physically- seonghwa got a normal amount of sleep. but he was tired emotionally. going everyday missing someone who quite literally disappeared out of thin air. someone who wasn't alive probably the entire time he had known him. 

seonghwa walked staring at the ground, and eventually bumped directly into someone. 

"I'm so sorry, I was spaced out. I wasn't watching where I was going." he said, and instead of a response, he was met with an outstretched hand. 

seonghwa grabbed the man's hand, and went to look at him to say thank you, and that he was sorry again. he just wanted to go home. 

instead of that, seonghwa's jaw dropped. his eyes immediately filled with tears- he thought he had finally lost his mind. 

"I told you I'd be back, yeah? you know I never break promises, hwa." the man said, tears falling down his face, and a bright smile flash. seonghwa practically jumped on him. he didn't know how or why, but hongjoong was back. he was alive. he was real in front of him, and after five years, he was hugging the love of his life again. 

neither of them said anything. they just looked at each other, studying the other person in front of them, making sure this wasn't just a cruel dream their mind gave them. a kiss broke them out of that thought. a kiss that was filled with only pure love. a kiss that said a million words, and a kiss that promised that never again would they be apart.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic on here, so I actually have no idea how to tag things..... originally posted on my twt @kevluvbot ♡


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